COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the 2023-24 National Hockey League (NHL) season getting underway tonight (Tuesday), 45 former National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players have been named to NHL opening-night rosters. Along with those 45, another 11 alumni of NCHC teams, who didn’t play in the NCHC, landed a spot on opening-night rosters. In all, a total of 56 alumni from NCHC teams will begin the 2023-24 season on NHL rosters.
 
The 45 NCHC alumni to start in the NHL are the second-most in the Conference’s 10-year history, trailing only the 46 last year by one. Among the 45 former NCHC players on rosters as of Tuesday, seven were listed as injured reserve/non-roster.
 
Among NCHC alumni, Minnesota Duluth led the way with 10 former players on NHL opening rosters and led NCHC teams with 11 alumni overall starting in the NHL. Denver and North Dakota each placed 10 alumni on opening rosters, followed by St. Cloud State with nine. Among NCHC alumni only, Denver and SCSU each have eight in the NHL, while UND placed seven NCHC alums on opening-night rosters.
 
Miami has seven alumni overall on NHL rosters, including four NCHC alumni, while all NCHC teams have at least two former players starting in the NHL. Omaha has four, Western Michigan has three and Colorado College placed two alums on opening rosters.
 
Two players on NHL opening-night rosters played in the NCHC last season, led by former Minnesota Duluth defenseman Wyatt Kaiser, who is on the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Denver forward Carter Mazur, who is currently on injured reserve, is also on the Detroit Red Wings roster. Kaiser played nine NHL games with the Blackhawks at the end of last season, while Mazur is still looking to make his NHL debut.
 
Among NHL teams, five different teams have three NCHC alumni on their roster, including the Colorado Avalanche, the Los Angeles Kings, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Vancouver Canucks and the Winnipeg Jets. Among all alumni of NCHC teams, the Washington Capitals lead the way with four alums. Twenty-four (24) NHL teams have at least one NCHC alumnus on their opening-night roster. Only the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs have no representation from any NCHC team.
 
Of the 45 NCHC alumni on opening-night rosters, 25 are forwards, 17 are defensemen and three are goaltenders, but two goalies are on injured reserve, with Washington Capitals netminder Charlie Lindgren, an SCSU alum, the lone healthy former NCHC goalie in the NHL. Of the 56 overall alumni on NHL opening rosters, 30 are forwards, 23 are defensemen and three are netminders.

In addition to the players, two former NCHC head coaches are head coaches in the NHL. Former North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol begins his third season with the Seattle Kraken, while former Denver head coach Jim Montgomery starts his second season at the helm of the Boston Bruins after winning the Jack Adams Award last year as NHL Coach of the Year.

Last year, 68 NCHC alumni played at least one game in the NHL, including 10 players making their debut. Entering the 2023-24 season, 96 NCHC alumni have played at least one game in the NHL in the conference’s 10-year history.
 
Below is a list of all NCHC teams’ alumni on an opening-night NHL roster (including those on injured reverse/non-roster) broken down by alma mater (NCHC alumni/total alumni in parentheses). Those that played collegiately prior to the NCHC are denoted with an asterisk (*):

COLORADO COLLEGE (1/2)
*Jaden Schwartz, F, Seattle
Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina
 
DENVER (8/10)
Bobby Brink, F, Philadelphia
Will Butcher, D, Pittsburgh - IR
Cole Guttman, F, Chicago
*Scott Mayfield, D, New York Islanders
Carter Mazur, F, Detroit - IR
Ian Mitchell, D, Boston
Trevor Moore, F, Los Angeles
Logan O’Connor, F, Colorado
Troy Terry, F, Anaheim
*Jason Zucker, F, Arizona
 
MIAMI (4/7)
Blake Coleman, F, Calgary
Sean Kuraly, F, Columbus
*Alec Martinez, D, Vegas
Jack Roslovic, F, Columbus
Kiefer Sherwood, F, Nashville
*Reilly Smith, F, Pittsburgh
*Chris Wideman, D, Montreal - IR
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH (10/11)
Mikey Anderson, D, Los Angeles
Noah Cates, F, Philadelphia
Ryan Fanti, G, Edmonton - IR
*Justin Faulk, D, St. Louis
Alex Iafallo, F, Winnipeg
Wyatt Kaiser, D, Chicago
Scott Perunovich, D, St. Louis
Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg
Dylan Samberg, D, Winnipeg
Carson Soucy, D, Vancouver
Riley Tufte, F, Colorado
 
NORTH DAKOTA (7/10)
Brock Boeser, F, Vancouver
*Derek Forbort, D, Boston
Tyson Jost, F, Buffalo
*Brock Nelson, F, New York Islanders
*T.J. Oshie, F, Washington
Tucker Poolman, D, Vancouver - IR
Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa
Nick Schmaltz, F, Arizona
Cole Smith, F, Nashville
Troy Stecher, D, Arizona
 
OMAHA (4/4)
Jake Guentzel, F, Pittsburgh
Jaycob Megna, D, Seattle
Fredrik Olofsson, F, Colorado
Isaiah Saville, G, Vegas - IR
 
ST. CLOUD STATE (8/9)
Will Borgen, D, Seattle
Nic Dowd, F, Washington
Mikey Eyssimont, F, Tampa Bay
Sam Hentges, F, Minnesota - IR
*Nick Jensen, D, Washington
Charlie Lindgren, G, Washington
Blake Lizotte, F, Los Angeles
Nick Perbix, D, Tampa Bay
Ryan Poehling, F, Philadelphia
 
WESTERN MICHIGAN (3/3)
Paul Cotter, F, Vegas
Jordan Oesterle, D, Calgary
Mattias Samuelsson, D, Buffalo